Hat display case



' P. G. WILLIAMS HAT DISPLAY CASE Filed Oct.

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I I Oct. 14, 1941. P. WILLIAMS HA1 DISPLAY CASE Filed Oct. 18, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Oct. 14, 1941 HAT DISPLAY eA sE Paul G. Williams,-Grand Rapids, Mich., assignor to Grand Rapids Store Equipment Company,

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Grand Rapids, Mich.,a corp' orationof Michi- Application October 18, 1939, Serial No. 299,947 '3 Claims. (Cl. 21 130) This invention relates in general to display racks which are particularly adapted to display mens hats in a novel manner, andwhich possess novel characteristics of appearance and structure. v

The particular means which I have disclosed for supporting each of the individual racks of my invention are more fully disclosed in the copending application of Kenneth C. Welch and Anthony Vanderveld, Ser. No. 291,221, filed August 21, 1939, and the patent of Kenneth C. Weleh, No. 2,208,234, issued July 16, 1940, but which will hereafter be described briefly.

By means of the invention here disclosed it is possible to display a greater number of hats in a smaller amount of space because of the novel contour of each of the individual racks.

Heretofore, by use of the customary horizontal shelf on which such hats are accustomed to be displayed, it was necessary to place the hats side by side on the same shelf without any over1apping of the outwardly extending brims thereon. The construction of the racks embodied in this invention permit the hats to be displayed in staggered relation thereby enabling the same or a greater number of hats to be displayed in a smaller amount of space. a

By reason of the fact that each rack is composed of alternate elevated and depressed. portionson which the hats are adapted to rest, the brims of such hats can be literally overlapped without touching each other thereby permitting less width of the cabinet Within which the racks are placed. The racks of my invention are characterized by the provision of a plurality of spaced apart rods extending in one direction having elevations and depressions therein and a plurality of other rods which extend transversely of the first named rods connecting the elevations and depressions thereof to thereby provide a structure which is not only. economical to manufacture but which may be easily and quickly installed within a cabinet.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and Fig. 1 is a fragmentary front elevational view of a cabinet within which is located a plurality of racks constructed in accordance with my invention.

' Fig. .2 is a horizontal section through the cabinet showing one of the display racks in plan.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of one of the display racks of my invention.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional perspective showing one end of the cabinet and the means thereon by which the ends of the racks are supported.

Fig; 5 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view through an end of the cabinet showing the supporting strip in elevation, an'd Fig. 6 is a fragmentary vertical section through one of the supporting stripsshowing the manner in which the end member is supported and is taken at right angles to the plane of Fig. 5.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, the cabinet within which the display racks of my invention is'intended to be placed is composed of side members I, a top member 2 and a back member 3. Each of the side members I is provided with a plurality of spaced apart vertically extending grooves within which a channel member is adapted to be placed having outwardly extending flanges 4 thereon which are adapted to fit in offset portions of the grooves in said end members so that they are flush with the inner surface thereof.

The particular construction of these channel members which comprise the supporting strips is the subject matter of the above mentioned copending applications and will be'described here only briefly. Each channel member or supporting strip is provided with side members 5 which have inwardly extending portions 6 thereon which abut against each other and may be welded or'otherwise secured, as shown in Fig. 6. These spaced apart inwardly bent portions provide means whereby the brackets of the end supporting members may be held in position. Each of the end supporting members for the rack itself is comprised of an angle member having a hori- Zontal portion 1 and a vertical portion 8 which lies against the inner side of an end member. At spaced apart points along the lengths of this angle member corresponding to the points at which the supporting strips are located, a rearwardly extending portion 9 is provided which has an upwardly extending ear l0 thereon. When the supporting angle member is inserted within the grooves, the flange 1 is placed almost in a vertical position while the ears I0 are being inserted between two of the spaced apart portions formed by the inwardly bent members 6. As the ears near the bottom of the groove, the flange T is brought downwardly to a horizontal position at which time the bottom of the rearwardly extending portion 9 rests upon one pair of the members While one edge of the ear [0 abuts against the next adjacent pair of members 6 thereabove as shown in Fig. 5.

The length of the flange 7 is provided with a plurality of spaced apart openings II for the reception of the ends of the individual racks.

Each rack itself is composed of a plurality of elongated spaced apart rods having a plurality. of elevated portions l2 thereon as well as aplurality of depressed portions I3 which are connected by the vertical portions M. Each end of these rods which extend laterally of the cabinet is provided with a downdardly extending portion l5 which is adapted to be received in the corresponding opening ll. Although I have chosen to disclose in this particular embodiment of the invention a rack which is composed of two elevated portions and two depressed portions, itis intended to be within the scope of the invention to make the rack longer or shorter and provide it with a greater or lesser number of such elevated and depressed portions.

Extending transversely of these laterally extending rods I provide supporting rods 16 which may be connected at their outer front ends by a cross member H. The rods l6 extend transversely of the first mentioned rods along the elevated and depressed portions thereof as clearly shown in Fig. 3. Although it is possible to provide two or more separate rods l6 unconnected at their outer ends, I prefer to employ the connection H to aid in strengthening the resulting structure. The connecting portion l1 may either be integral with or secured to the rods 16.

At the rear of the rack there is provided a bar 18 which connects all of the rearmost ends of the bars IS which extend across the depressed portions l3, and another bar 19 which connects all of the rearmost ends of the rods it which connect and lie across the elevated portions I2.

The rods l8 and I9 are obviously for the purpose in position thereon by inserting the downward-,

ly extending ends I 5 into the openings ll. As

many of these racks may be placed in a single cabinet as may be desired provided they are adequately spaced apart vertically in the manner shown in Fig. 1.

The surfaces provided both along the elevated and depressed portions of the rack are adequate to support a plurality of hats as indicated in Fig. 1. It will be evident that the hats may be neatly maintained by reason of the fact that the brims thereof do not overlap in contact with each other because of their staggered relation thereby enabling the use of a cabinet of less width to display as many hats as was formely possible with the use of a single horizontal shelf. It is also to be noted that during the peak season several hats may be placed one over the other, in a single location without in any way interfering with any of the adjacent hats.

The display rack herein disclosed, as will be evident, is most economical to manufacture and from an assembly standpoint the racks may be easily and quickly installed as well as removed.

Other modes of applying the principle of my invention may be employed instead of the one here explained, change being made as regards the elements herein described, provided, however, that the means stated by any of the following claims or the equivalent of such stated means be employed.

I, therefore, particularly point out and distinctly claim, as my invention:

1. A display rack comprising, a plurality of horizontally spaced apart rods, each having elevated and depressed portions thereon, a plurality of other rods secured to and extending transversely of each of the elevated and depressed portions respectively of the first named rods, said transverse rods extending forwardly and rearwardly beyond said first named rods, means at one end connecting the ends of the transverse rods of each elevated and depressed portion, and means at the other end connecting all of the ends of the transverse rods which are in the same horizontal plane.

2. In a display case, a plurality of racks supported one over the other, each of said racks including a plurality of elongated spaced apart rods each having elevated and depressed portions therein in horizontal alinement, a plurality of rods extending transversely of each of said portions to thereby provide article displaying supports, a bar connecting the ends of the rods extending transversely of the elevated portions, and a bar ,connecting the ends of the rods extending transversely of the depressed portions, to strengthen the rack.

3. A display rack comprising, a plurality of horizontally spaced apart rods each having elevated and depressed portions thereon, supporting means secured to and extending transversely of each of the elevated and depressed portions respectively of said rods, said supporting means extending rearwardly beyond said rods, and means at the rear of the rack connecting all of the ends of the transverse supporting means which are in the same horizontal plane.

PAUL G. WILLIAMS. 

